Stephen Everett Merrill (June 21, 1946 – September 5, 2020) was an American lawyer and Republican politician from

Manchester, New Hampshire Manchester is a city in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. It is the most populous city in New Hampshire. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 115,644. Manchester is, along with Nashua, one of two seats of New Ha ...

. He served as the 77th

governor of New Hampshire The governor of New Hampshire is the head of government of New Hampshire. The governor is elected during the biennial state general election in November of even-numbered years. New Hampshire is one of only two states, along with bordering ...

from 1993 to 1997.

Early life

Merrill was born in

Norwich, Connecticut Norwich ( ) (also called "The Rose of New England") is a city in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The Yantic, Shetucket, and Quinebaug Rivers flow into the city and form its harbor, from which the Thames River flows south to ...

but moved to

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

at an early age. He graduated from

Winnacunnet High School Winnacunnet High School is an American public high school in Hampton, New Hampshire. It serves students in grades 9 through 12 who live in Hampton, Seabrook, North Hampton, South Hampton, and Hampton Falls. Students from South Hampton attend ...

in Hampton, New Hampshire and the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant college in Hanover in connection with Dartmouth College ...

. He received his

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice l ...

degree from

Georgetown University Law Center The Georgetown University Law Center (Georgetown Law) is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment and ...

in 1972. In 1972, Merrill joined the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Si ...

as a lawyer. From 1973 to 1975 he was legal counsel to the

United States Secretary of the Air Force The secretary of the Air Force, sometimes referred to as the secretary of the Department of the Air Force, (SecAF, or SAF/OS) is the head of the Department of the Air Force and the service secretary for the United States Air Force and United ...

and from 1975 to 1976 was a special assistant to the assistant secretary of the Air Force. He then practiced law in Manchester from 1976 to 1984.

Political career

Early career

In 1982, Merrill became legal counsel to Governor John H. Sununu. In 1983 he took on the additional role of chief of staff. From 1984 to 1989 was the Attorney General of New Hampshire. As attorney general, Merrill strengthened child abuse laws, backed tougher environmental regulations, formed a task force to combat addiction, and lowered the age at which juveniles could be tried as adults in murder cases to 13. He maintained a high public profile through public appearances and personally trying several cases. He returned to private practice in 1989, starting a firm with Democrat John T. Broderick Jr., whom Merrill would later appoint to the

New Hampshire Supreme Court The New Hampshire Supreme Court is the supreme court of the U. S. state of New Hampshire and sole appellate court of the state. The Supreme Court is seated in the state capital, Concord. The Court is composed of a Chief Justice and four Associat ...

Governor of New Hampshire

Merrill ran as a Republican the

1992 New Hampshire gubernatorial election The 1992 New Hampshire gubernatorial election took place on November 3, 1992. Republican Party (United States), Republican nominee Steve Merrill, who defeated Ed Dupont and Liz Hager for the Republican nomination, won the election, defeating De ...

. He won election on his first try at state office and was reelected in 1994 with seventy percent of the popular vote. Before entering office, Merrill was faced with an anticipated $40 million shortfall in state revenues after a special

property tax A property tax or millage rate is an ad valorem tax on the value of a property.In the OECD classification scheme, tax on property includes "taxes on immovable property or net wealth, taxes on the change of ownership of property through inher ...

imposed by outgoing Governor Judd Gregg and the state legislature was declared unconstitutional. Merrill proposed budget cuts and changes to state employees' Workmen's Compensation and state taxes as ways to address the fiscal emergency. By April 1993, the state's economy was beginning to improve.Merrill at New Hampshire's Division of Historic Resources
/ref> In 1993, Merrill signed an executive order celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Prior to Merrill's order, the holiday was known as Civil Rights Day due to conservatives' displeasure with King's opposition to the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. Merrill signed a similar proclamation each year he was governor and in 1999 the state legislature officially changed the holiday's name. Merrill coined the phrase the "New Hampshire Advantage", which referred to the state's lower taxes and smaller government. He was twice selected as the "most fiscally responsible governor in America" by the ''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

''/

Cato Institute The Cato Institute is an American libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1977 by Ed Crane, Murray Rothbard, and Charles Koch, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Koch Industries.Koch Ind ...

. Merrill declined to run for a third term, citing family obligations. In 1997 he ran for chairman of the

Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is a U.S. political committee that assists the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican brand and political platform, as well as assisting in ...

, but lost to Jim Nicholson.

Post political life

Merrill served as chairman of Boston-based Bingham Consulting.

Death

Merrill died at his home in Manchester on September 5, 2020, at age 74.

References

External links

* , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Merrill, Stephen E. 1946 births 2020 deaths 20th-century American politicians Georgetown University Law Center alumni Republican Party governors of New Hampshire Military personnel from New Hampshire New Hampshire Attorneys General New Hampshire lawyers People from Hampton, New Hampshire Place of death missing United States Air Force officers University of New Hampshire alumni